I have to note that I hated this movie the first time that I saw it. I guess I believed the advertising and was hoping for much more than was delivered. But I think, like House on Haunted Hill and some other remakes, it was limited by it’s 1960 original inspiration.

However, now aged compared to many other movies from the same time, it takes on a playful quality which has turned it into one of my most enjoyable October movies.

This movie also contains a disproportionately beautiful opening credit scene when – in a short time and with moderate effects – it shows the past to present for Arthur Kriticos (Tony Shaloub), his daughter (Shannon Elizabeth), and the rest of the family.

Before and after that, this movie is really about Matthew Lillard’s performance as the flawed psychic who really has a heart of gold when lives are on the line.

Although not a movie for the whole family, by today’s standards, this should rate maybe 16 and up. As usual, most people will be concerned with the full (in make-up) nudity of The Angry Princess ghost than of the violence, but both are really needed to make this the fun high-budget B-movie that it really is.

And then tonight, I picked on something new streaming on Netflix – Big Ass Spider! (2013).